bump
Latest
Bump and Flock file sharing apps shut down this month as devs focus on Google projects
Google acquired Bump -- developer of an NFC-like file sharing app with the same name and a photo sharing service called Flock -- back in September, and both projects will shut down January 31st. CEO and cofounder David Lieb announced the discontinuation of both products on the Bump blog, saying his team is "deeply focused on our new projects within Google." That bodes well for their mission of enhancing sharing on mobile devices, but the bad news for Bump and Flock users is that this shut down means everything must go. After January ends the apps will no longer function, they'll disappear from the App Store and Google Play and all stored data will be deleted from servers (locally saved files or photos will remain in place). Any of those millions of users can still keep their data though, just open up the app anytime in the next month, and follow the instructions shown (tap the "i" menu on iOS or "More" on Android). Afterwards, Bump will send over an email with a link to let you download all of your stored data.
Daily Roundup: Motorola Droid Maxx review, Google buys Bump, and more!
You might say the day is never really done in consumer technology news. Your workday, however, hopefully draws to a close at some point. This is the Daily Roundup on Engadget, a quick peek back at the top headlines for the past 24 hours -- all handpicked by the editors here at the site. Click on through the break, and enjoy.
Google buys Bump data-sharing application, standalone app will stick around 'for now'
Data sharing / smartphone colliding app Bump is now a part of Google's happy family, according to a post written earlier today by CEO David Lieb. Not a ton of info on the acquisition is available at the moment, including just how much money changed hands and what devices needed to come in contact for such a transfer to take place. Lieb did add, however, that, "Bump and [Bump-owned photo app] Flock will continue to work as they always have for now." What, precisely, "for now" means, and how the deal will affect Bump usage on non-Android platforms, however, is hard to say.
Bump's photo-sharing Flock app now supports 15 languages
Flock, Bump Technologies' photo-sharing app, has just added localization for 15 different languages, gaining it potential international appeal. Founded by CEO David Lieb, Flock is essentially a photo-sharing app that collects photos taken within a certain location and remembers who you were with thanks to that aforementioned geo-tracking data. It's similar to Highlight or even Color, except the app doesn't need to be open. Instead, a push notification is sent to all users in attendance, giving them a choice to create a group album of shared photos. Lieb tells us that it's picked up some notable user stats since the app's debut in July last year. Apparently more than 60 percent of the photos that Flock recommends are actually shared, and push notification response rates are around 40 to 50 percent. He also revealed that the average user gets around 33 photos from friends every week, while active users share 25 to 40 percent of all photos taken. It's no wonder then that the company aims to widen its reach with added localization -- after all, we know how well that's worked for other social networks. Head on past the break to see Flock in action, or just download it yourself from the source. Added languages are iOS-only, with the Android version remaining monolingual for now.
Bump removes ability to share iTunes tracks in latest update
We see tons of app updates come through the App Store every single day, but it's very rare that one of those updates removes functionality rather than adds it. The latest update for Bump for iPhone does exactly that, unfortunately. Bump is an app that came out very early in the App Store's life, and its core feature was that you could "bump" with another iPhone user to share contacts. Over the years, Bump has added more and more sharing features, to the point where it can now share files, work with Dropbox and even connect up with a Mac directly. Last year, the company added the ability to "share" music from phone to phone, basically by sharing the song's information, and then by looking that song up on the target phone across YouTube and iTunes. But that feature no longer works, as per the app's latest update. It could be that Apple didn't like music being "shared" across phones without their standard cut being paid, or it could be that Bump just didn't think the code was working as well as it should. At any rate, you can't share music in Bump any longer. The good news is that if you have a version of Bump that will share music, you can simply keep that version by not upgrading to the new one, and you can also keep the functionality. You can even drag the app out of your iTunes library (if you've installed it from an iTunes client), and save it elsewhere, in case you ever accidentally upgrade. True, this one feature may not justify having to remember not to upgrade the app every time (and you'll miss out on any future Bump features), but if it's something you depend on, there are ways to keep it active.
Bump app now allows transfers of any file between phone and computer
We've seen the Bump app evolve from just a way to transfer contacts to a version that allows for mobile payments and one that lets you share photos between your phone and your computer. Now the company has expanded its feature set to transferring files of all kinds, be they photos, videos or Word documents. Simply enable the location feature in your browser, tap the files you want to move over, slap that spacebar button with your phone and the files will be on their way. They'll actually head over to Bump's servers and not your desktop, but you can still easily download them if you so choose. The updated app is available on iOS and Android today, so you can start bumping your files over right now.
Bump can now transfer files in both directions between iPhone and Mac
Bump, the app that began its life as a way to transfer business card type info between two iPhones by bumping them together, has taken another evolutionary step today by allowing you to transfer files between your Mac and iOS device and vice-versa. The app gained the ability to transfer photos and files from iPhone to Mac last year via a web interface, but now works in both directions. In order to make it work, you must download the latest version of the free Bump app -- 3.5.6 -- from the App Store, then fire it up on your device and go to www.bu.mp in your Mac's web browser. From there, you simply tap the spacebar with your phone and you'll get the option to send files to your iOS device. They can be photos, music, videos, whatever. As in previous versions, you can also select photos or other files within the Bump app on your device, then "bump" the spacebar to send them to your computer. Basically, it's a quick form of two-way wireless syncing that's worked really well in our initial tests, and it's definitely made the Bump app itself more indispensable. This writer, for one, previously used it for sending photos and screenshots to his Mac, but can now see using it much more frequently. [Via Gizmodo]
Bump adds support for sharing files via Dropbox
I remember Bump from its early days on the App Store, when it was one of the first "contact sharing" apps with a unique gimmick: where you simply "bumped" your iPhone to someone else's to share contact information. Since then, however, Bump has been steadily upgrading its app, adding lots of other sharing functionality. And the app's latest update adds even more: In addition to sharing any files stored on your iOS device (functionality that was added in the 3.5 update), the latest update (3.5.3) adds the ability to share any files sitting on your Dropbox. All you need to do is hook up your Dropbox account, choose which files you'd like to share and bump away. Obviously, there are loads of ways to share Dropbox files already, but if you and a friend happen to both have Bump, that's one more thing you can do with it. There's an impressive amount of functionality they're putting into that app. Bump is still a free download on the App Store.
Chirp iPhone app introduces sharing via sound
You'd be forgiven for thinking this is a story about some sort of jukebox from my House (of Crackpot Theories), but this is news about a real app called Chirp. What's Chirp? "Half Bump, half Soundhound." On your iPhone, you choose an item (photo, note, or link) and then you can share with everyone around you who also has the app. It plays a high pitched series of tones, which other phones nearby (also running Chirp) listen for; the tones convey the URL to the item uploaded, and the other phones download it. (The app does require data access to work, so it's not true peer-to-peer sharing, but it's good enough.) I loaded it today, and since the TUAW staff doesn't all report to one big office, I was sitting here by myself wondering how to test it. Luckily the Chirp Blog has a couple of test items you can use to try it out, and I have to admit, it's pretty slick. Something I hadn't thought about when I first downloaded the app was doing something with audio on a website or in some other fashion, like an audio QR code. At first that sounded kind of cool, considering all the useful kinds of things to be done with something like that. Then I thought about hearing the same brief tone many many times a day and I think that would get old in a hurry. As of now it appears to be just the Chirp app that uses this technology, but for a quick way to share files it looks reasonably handy. [hat tip The Next Web] #next_pages_container { width: 5px; hight: 5px; position: absolute; top: -100px; left: -100px; z-index: 2147483647 !important; }
Bump app for Android and iOS adds desktop photo sharing
Bump has managed to garner quite a following among iPhone and Android users, but they've so far only been able to transfer files between two mobile devices, not between their phone and their home computer. The company's managed to find a workaround of sorts to that limitation though, and has today rolled out a new feature that will let you send photos (and only photos) from your phone to your desktop. To do so, you'll first have to update the Bump app on your phone and then head to the Bump website, at which point you can simply tap the spacebar to transfer your photos (with your phone if you want to keep the whole "bump" motif going). As you can probably surmise, that means photos are transferred to Bump's website and not directly to your computer, but that does have the added benefit of making the photos a bit easier to share on your social network of choice.
Bump Pay lets you tap a friend for cash
Taking cues from an ING Direct app that used its API, Bump Technologies has developed its own version of the mobile payments software, enabling phone-to-phone "Bump" transactions using PayPal. Yes, PayPal. That minor processing detail aside, the service appears to offer a fun solution for simplifying the fairly painful process of paying the check at group meals, or splitting a tank of gas with a friend. Both you and your bud need to have the app installed before you can beam that green, and there's no option to send payments remotely, though you could always use plain ole vanilla PayPal for that. The app is free, and if you have a checking account linked you won't have to deal with any fees. Bump Pay is iOS only "at launch" (read: it could be making its way to Android as well), so for now you'll need to bump the App Store to get folks paid.
Updated 6/3: Weber's On The Grill, Glympse, Bump, Stitcher Radio, WebEx
iOS App Store updates this morning: Weber's On the Grill: additional language support Bump: Faster photo uploads Glympse: Redesigned favorites view & more favorites features. Stitcher: Support for the Ford Sync radio. Cisco WebEx: Support for WebEx Beta sites. Hit your app updates in iTunes to download these & any other apps that are ready for you!
ASUS gets Computex 2011 started early with a tablet teaser, asks us 'pad or phone?'
Oh ASUS, what are you up to now? The company that brought us the wildly popular Eee Pad Transformer has another new tablet brewing in its design labs, which we're promised we'll get to witness for the first time at Computex 2011. Until then, we've been provided with a trio of images to pore over and get the guessing games going. The slate device, whose size and software remain unspecified, is said to feature a bump (above left) and a clip (above right), though there are no explanations given about the function of either. You may see both images in their full size after the break, along with a teaser image from ASUS' Facebook page with the slogan "break the rules: pad or phone?" stood in front of a tablet silhouette. That provides plenty of clues for aspiring Sherlocks out there, but little concrete knowledge. Ah well, Computex is just a week away.
ING Direct's iOS app adds 'bump' money transfer feature for well-heeled posses
Look, violence doesn't solve everything, but ING Direct reckons a gentle fist bump can help fix financial quarrels between you and your buddies. Recently added to the bank's iOS app is a feature that makes use of Bump Technologies' API, with which a physical bump between two active devices instantly triggers a money transfer, thus saving the sender from having to put in account details. 'Course, this is only usable for transactions within ING for the time being, so you'll have to stick to other methods for some quick and dirty mobile payments to the outside world.
Bump study: 90% of iOS users run 4.X
Bump, the folks behind that iPhone app that allows you to quickly and easily exchange contacts, released a set of stats about its users that says almost 90% of iOS device owners are already running some version of iOS 4.0 or above. Bump reportedly has over 25 million downloads, so we are talking about a decent sample of the iOS user population (though I'd argue that it's not quite as widespread as the stats might be on an app like Angry Birds -- still, we'll take what we can get). According to their figures, over 89% of users are running iOS 4.0, a number that's a little higher than what I've heard from developers in the past. Bump says that 10% of its users are still running some form of iOS 3.0, and just 2% of users are stuck back on iOS 2.0. Within the 4.0 crowd, 52.89% are running the latest version of 4.2.1, with 27.5% still running 4.1. Why's everybody so caught up? In addition to the press around each update, I'd suggest that the holidays were probably a big equalizer, with new iPhones and iPod touches smoothing out the playing field (since they come updated with the latest version automatically). With so many people all caught up to iOS 4.0 on the same hardware, Apple has a nice solid platform to build on, something that Android phones have been struggling with on both the hardware and software fronts. [via 9to5Mac]
Aluratek's new wireless speakers go Bump in the night
Speakers? Oh yeah. Wires? Heck no. Aluratek has launched three new wireless audio products collectively called Bump -- though somehow a wired model got lumped in there too. A bit of a step from the company's previous digi frame and e-reader offerings, the four tune-pumping solutions start with the $49.99 AMS01F, a wee boombox that plays music from SD, line-in, or FM and does six hours on a charge. The $79.99 AUWS01F ditches the media player functionality, relying on a signal sent from a 2.4GHz USB dongle that you stick in your nearest PC or Mac (within 60 feet) that has some tunes on it. Next is the $99.99 AWS01F, basically the AMS01F boombox with the addition of a separate wireless speaker. Finally, if you're not ready to cut the cord, there's the $19.99 APS01F, a single little tweeter with a 3.5mm cable sprouting from below. They're all available now, so you know what to do. Update: Seems these are a rebadge. Welp, at least you've got another option.
Bump adds music-sharing upgrade
Bump is an older app on the App Store that allowed you to "share" contact information with another local phone not actually by Bluetooth, but by simply placing the two phones near the same location, and then sharing the information across a wireless network. Now, Bump is apparently adding a new trick to its arsenal. In version 2.2, out on the App Store now, you can actually "share" any of the songs in your iTunes library. Bump still doesn't actually push information from phone to phone -- instead, it will read out the song's information, and then give the receiving phone a YouTube link to hear the song, as well as links to preview and buy the song on iTunes (assuming it is available). It's an interesting way of getting around the licensing restrictions that have prevented hearing the same music on multiple devices, and of course it solves the trouble of getting two phones up and wirelessly connected long enough to actually push a file across. A neat little bit of innovation for an app we installed on the iPhone a long time ago.
Best apps for road warriors and business users
Business Insider has compiled a list of the 10 best free iPhone apps for business and the 20 best iPad apps for business travelers. The lists are pretty comprehensive, and just because you don't fly around from one meeting to the next doesn't mean you need not check them out. From Todo and Evernote for the iPad (which has been extensively covered here on TUAW) to Yelp and Bump for the iPhone, there are some real gems to help you stay ahead of the game. If you've got a shiny new iPad or iPhone, but you're struggling to sift the good from the bad on the App Store, this is a great place to start. Business Insider even points out that, if you put the apps to good use, maybe you can claim the paid ones back on expenses. That's good thinking!
Paypal app goes 2.0, adds Bump integration
Never before in human history have there been so many ways to part with your hard-earned cash. The spotlight might be on credit card acceptance tools from Square & Verisign, or the beta Venmo service's SMS-based trust network -- still, don't forget about the cagey veteran. Paypal is 12 years old now (and in Internet years, that's... uh... "wicked old") but the eBay-owned payment site is innovating as fast as ever; case in point, the 2.0 version of the free Paypal iPhone app. The new app features a revamped interface and history display, along with options for payment reminders, funds withdrawals and a new "Request Money" tool. You can create and send a fund request within the app at the moment you need it (just spotted your pal $20 for the movies? Bingo!), which makes it that much more likely that you'll get reimbursed. In like fashion, you can collect money for a shared gift or charitable donation, or split a restaurant check and send off requests for everyone's share of the bill. If that's not futuristic enough for you, the Paypal app now integrates with contact sharer Bump, which added Facebook friending and more granular profile-based sharing in a new release at the end of February (most requested new feature: a 'fake' profile, allowing you to give that overeager Bump-er at the bar a bogus number if you're just not that into them). Using the Bump API, Paypal's app now allows you to send money to another Bump user just by tapping phones. I anticipate strong enthusiasm for this feature at sporting events and casinos. Paypal's apps for the Blackberry and Android are scheduled to get some of the new features soon, but in the meantime these are iPhone-only goodies. Enjoy! %Gallery-88352% [h/t TechCrunch]
Boston creates app to report road problems
Since moving to LA, I haven't quite had to deal with the potholes that Spring in Chicago usually brings (not that roads are any better out here, but at least they don't have to deal with all of the freezing and thawing). But despite the yearly flat tires and ruined alignments, Chicago hasn't gone quite as far as Boston, where the city government has developed not one but two apps to enable its citizens to report on potholes and other city issues. Citizens Connect is an app developed late last year by the city that enables locals to report graffiti, potholes, broken streetlights, and other urban issues in the Boston area, and now they're working on a new app, nicknamed BUMP (for Boston Urban Mechanic Profiler), that will automatically transmit road conditions to a central database using the iPhone's accelerometer and data connection. That seems tough to do with all of the extra noise that must come from an accelerometer, but they are working with a researcher from Worcester Polytechnic Institute, so maybe they will be able to pull it off. Interesting to see metropolitan areas like this using newer technology to keep an eye on what's up in their city. Of course, actually fixing the potholes will take a little more work, but knowing what's wrong is helpful.
